The legislation passed on a 62-36 vote, after lawmakers spent weeks considering amendments. The House passed a similar bill earlier this month, though there are slight differences that have to be ironed out before the bill can go to President Obama's desk.

The vote nevertheless marked the first time the Senate has voted to approve the controversial Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. Nine Democrats joined with 53 Republicans to back the measure.

“Constructing Keystone would pump billions into our economy,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said before the vote. “It would support thousands of good American jobs and as the president’s own State Department has indicated, it would do this with minimal environmental impact.”

Russ Girling, CEO of the company behind the project TransCanada, said in a statement Thursday afternoon the firm was "encouraged" by the "strong bipartisan" showing in the Senate.

Still, Republicans remain several votes shy of the 67 needed in the 100-member chamber to override a presidential veto.

And asked Thursday about the vote, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated that Obama would veto.

It remains unclear whether majority Republicans could round up additional support to override. Since they took over the Senate in January, Republicans have made approving the Keystone pipeline their top priority on the heels of big wins in the November elections.

The Senate vote capped weeks of debate that was often messy and on one occasion had the Senate in session into the early morning. Dozens of additions to the bill were considered, but only a handful, such as getting the Senate on the record that climate change is not a hoax, made it into the measure.

"The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. But the Keystone jobs debate has been important for the Senate and for our country," McConnell said. "The Keystone infrastructure project has been studied endlessly, from almost every possible angle, and the same general conclusion keeps becoming clear: Build it."

The bill authorizes construction of the 1,179-mile pipeline, which would carry oil primarily from Canada's tar sands to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries.

First proposed in 2008, the $8 billion project has been beset by delays in Nebraska over its route and at the White House, where the president has resisted prior efforts by Congress to force him to make a decision. In 2012, Obama rejected the project after Congress attached a measure to a payroll tax cut extension that gave him a deadline to make a decision. The pipeline's developer, TransCanada Corp., then reapplied.

Environmental groups have called on Obama to reject the project outright, saying it would make it easier to tap a dirty source of energy that would exacerbate global warming. The State Department's analysis, assuming higher oil prices, found that shipping it by pipelines to rail or tankers would be worse for the planet.

Supporters say the pipeline is a critical piece of infrastructure that will create thousands of jobs during construction and boost energy security by importing oil from a friendly neighbor.

Just call them the Keystone Kops. They’re the gang that can’t take yes for an answer.

Desperate to appease his leftist base, President Obama has been eagerly looking for a reason—any reason—not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. First he claimed that it might harm the environment. But his own State Department released an environmental impact statementstating that Keystone XL would not have a major impact on the environment.

Even more important than the direct jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline are the indirect benefits of affordable, abundant American energy.
Next, the President claimed that he wanted to let the Nebraska courts rule on land disputes related to the pipeline before giving it the federal go-ahead. Well, the Nebraska Supreme Court recently issued its ruling, dismissing the lawsuit and allowing the pipeline project to go ahead in the Cornhusker State—if only Washington would get its own act together and approve it.

What’s President Obama’s excuse to hold up Keystone now?

The fact of the matter is, there shouldn’t be any. Six years, or more than 2,000 days, have passed since Trans Canada first proposed building the Keystone XL pipeline—and in that time, the project has survived more attempts to bring about its demise than Rasputin. If the President had a legitimate objection—other than raw ideological zealotry—to the pipeline, he surely would have raised it by now. He has not.

Moreover, the Canadian government has begun plans to build a pipeline of its own, from Alberta westward to the Pacific coast, allowing easy shipments of oil to China and other Asian nations. So the petroleum from Canadian oil sands will come to market, regardless of what Washington does. The only question is whether the United States will embrace the jobs and benefits that the pipeline project will bring. Unfortunately, the President appears adamant when it comes to prioritizing the needs of Hollywood liberals over ordinary, hard-working Americans.

President Obama’s continued intransigence on Keystone XL—Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reportedly considers Obama his “frustrator-in-chief”—doesn’t just deny the science behind the Administration’s own studies. This President’s failure to approve the pipeline is denying opportunities for America, and Americans. Completing the project could create thousands of construction jobs, and permanent jobs thereafter. At a time when the workforce participation rate stands near 36-year lows, we need all the jobs we can get. But President Obama—in his rush to embrace the Left’s climate change religion—wants to stand in their way.

Even more important than the direct jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline are the indirect benefits of affordable, abundant American energy. Lower energy prices put more money in Americans’ pockets, encouraging consumption that can grow the economy. What’s more, affordable energy supplies for manufacturers and producers have encouraged them to invest billions in new projects on our shores—creating jobs here at home, rather than shipping them overseas.

January’s jobs report confirmed what millions of Americans already know—their wages remain stagnant, barely keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, the Washington Post recentlyreported that the recent plunge in global oil prices—prompted in large part by newly developed sources of domestic energy—will lower gasoline costs for American motorists by the equivalent of $230 billion per year. The message couldn’t be clearer: the American people need the economic benefits—and the jobs—that affordable, abundant energy can provide.

We should do everything we can to bolster the American economy, and promote American energy independence. On behalf of all those whose economic opportunities have been delayed or denied due to indecision on Keystone XL, I hope this administration stops dithering, and answers their calls soon.

Republican Bobby Jindal is Governor of Louisiana and Honorary Chairman of America Next, a conservative policy group that focuses on winning the war of ideas.